Programming/Coding is witchcraft/magic just modernized...

[Caspar]

Why Code Is So Often Compared to Magic

It's not quite sorcery yet, but it could be.

www.theatlantic.com

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I wanna hear thoughts and opinions on the subject.

It's all about the aesthetics, but in theory yes, it could be thought of as such. I'd prefer if coders weren't put on trial for invoking the devil though.

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[Collision]

Everything that has to do with language is in itself ''magic'', it is a way to transfer thoughts from one person to another or to make thoughts take form in material reality. Following that logic, programming is magic using computers as the reality matrix into which thoughts are transferred. However, because of our increasingly computerized (??) world, our material reality and the matrix of the internet/computers are more and intertwined, giving programming the power to impact our material reality through the computers we use to interface with said reality. Does that make sense? English is not my first language so my writing might be goofy af.

For me, the issue with this view point is that, to do anything useful, a practical computer needs to be connected to a variety of input and output devices. These devices all have to be engineered by humans and the electrical signals used by a practical computer to control them all have to be specified by humans. Although I might like to command my computer to brew a pot of green tea, I cannot do so without the relevant electronics and communications protocols. I can certainly imagine a program that would encode this command but it won't do much more than generate waste heat without the requisite infrastructure.

This is also why I say that the author of the article in the OP doesn't understand computation. There is no magic aspect that converts my program directly into action. To do these things a practical computer needs to be attached to other machines all of which have to be constructed on the basis of natural laws. Programs also have to be constructed based on the specifications of these machines and not simply on abstract thought or will.

 

[Adrenochrome]

For me, the issue with this view point is that, to do anything useful, a practical computer needs to be connected to a variety of input and output devices. These devices all have to be engineered by humans and the electrical signals used by a practical computer to control them all have to be specified by humans. Although I might like to command my computer to brew a pot of green tea, I cannot do so without the relevant electronics and communications protocols. I can certainly imagine a program that would encode this command but it won't do much more than generate waste heat without the requisite infrastructure.

This is also why I say that the author of the article in the OP doesn't understand computation. There is no magic aspect that converts my program directly into action. To do these things a practical computer needs to be attached to other machines all of which have to be constructed on the basis of natural laws. Programs also have to be constructed based on the specifications of these machines and not simply on abstract thought or will.

Of course, it all depends on the point of view. I agree, obviously programming is the language of computers, it requires hardware to be conveyed to from the typer (??) to the end receiver. What's ''magic'' about it to me is the transference of ''will'' from one person to another using language, which in itself is the primordial form of magic imo. I know it's pretty much impossible to detach from the materiality of the act but nevertheless, I think it's possible to consider both aspects at the same time.
If you're a programmer and you refuse to see what you do as magic, then it's your loss I guess, it would make things more interesting I think.